Monday, October 18, 2010

Your Own Internal Pharmacy

A recent article from one of the herbal pharmacies I use, Kan Herbal, poignantly discusses what we all know at some level. The body can heal itself! As American's we grow up taking a drug for all our aliments...but did you stop to consider that the body has it's own “internal pharmacy”? Within our own bodies are hormones, pain relieving substances, cells to fight infection and cells that direct healing of tissue. There are enzymes and all sorts of chemical compounds with particular actions within our bodies.

What a beautiful system we have and we often do not let our bodies do the work and so they are out of shape. On top of that we damage ourselves daily with mental and physical stress and the toxins in the air and soil damage us. Focusing on reducing these outside attacks will allow our body to get back into its own balance. For example, over exercising or work that abuses the body puts it out of balance. The stress in personal life damages us. Eating unhealthy food reduces our ability to be healthy.

What to do? One of the easier things to do is to focus on what goes into your body. Buy the healthiest food you can afford and cook as much as you can. My rule when buying pre-packaged items is buy the ones with the smallest ingredient list. If your peanut butter has more than 2 ingredients listed on it, peanuts and salt, I would be raising my eyebrows.

Would you believe that just breathing more will help you? Try it. If you are exercising and feel burning in your muscles or lungs...take several deep, deliberate breaths and think of all the Cosmic Qi (qi from the universe) you are taking in. Lift up your arms and open your chest and breath. You will immediately have more energy.

Emotional stress can be more difficult to deal with. You must practice! Practice telling yourself that you are a wonderful, intelligent person. Practice thinking positive about everyone around you. I read once that love is power. It sounds so cliché and “goody-two-shoes”, but it is completely true. When everyone around you is angry or sad or unkind, throw love back at them and they will be powerless. What can they say to that? If the world cannot suck you in to this negative energy, you are powerful. And I tell you, you will raise up everyone around you.

There is no question that sometimes you will need help. Acupuncture has been used to tap in to the healing highways of the body and turn them on or put them in the right direction. Herbs go into the body and balance what is out of balance. They too can turn on the body's mechanisms to heal. There are other medical therapies as well like homeopathy and chiropractic.

This kind of internal healing I believe is true healing, lasting health.